1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer and the like, and more particularly, it relates to an apparatus for supplying a sheet to image forming means.
2. Related Background Art
In some conventional image processing apparatuses such as copying machines, printers and the like, sheets on which images are to be formed are contained in a sheet feeding cassette which can be drawn from a main body of the apparatus, and the sheets are picked up one by one by means of a sheet feeding mechanism provided in the main body of the apparatus, and the picked-up sheet is supplied to image forming means.
By the way, in case of an image forming apparatus in which various kinds of sheets are required to be used, there may be provided a multi sheet feeding apparatus in which, independently from the sheet feeding cassette, various kinds of sheets can be set by manual insertion and which includes a sheet storing portion for stacking and containing sheets to be set, and sheet feeding means such as a pick-up roller for feeding out the sheet stacked and contained in the sheet storing portion to image forming means.
However, in a conventional image forming apparatus having such a multi sheet feeding apparatus, the multi sheet feeding apparatus may prevent compactness of the image forming apparatus itself since it (including the sheet feeding means) assumes a large space within the image forming apparatus. Further, the number of parts is increased.
Incidentally, in order to make the multi sheet feeding apparatus more compact, for example, so-called manual sheet feed may be effected by providing a guide member on a part of the sheet feeding cassette in place of the sheet feeding means and by feeding-the sheet set on the guide member one by one. However, with this arrangement, the sheets cannot be fed continuously, and, thus, this arrangement is unsuitable for use with an image forming apparatus installed under a net-worked environment.
The present invention is made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which various kinds of sheets can be used and which can be made compact and reduce the number of parts.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet, comprising a sheet feeding cassette containing sheets and mounted to a main body of the apparatus for a drawing movement, first sheet feeding means for feeding out the sheet from a first sheet storing portion provided in the sheet feeding cassette, and image forming means for forming an image on the sheet fed out by the first sheet feeding means, wherein the sheet feeding cassette is provided with second sheet feeding means for feeding out a sheet contained in a second sheet storing portion different from the first sheet storing portion of the sheet feeding cassette.